بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
“In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”
Most people view Halloween as harmless, but it’s history is much darker than we would want our children to know about. It is not just some random coincidence that Halloween is littered with images of mummies, vampires, ghosts, & zombies, or that common Halloween decorations & costumes regularly feature skulls, tombstones, and spiders.
Halloween / All Hallow’s Eve has its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain & Ireland. Samhain was their god (lord of the Dead) who they used to worship. This group of people believed that on October 31st, the evil spirits would roam the earth & to please their God Samhain, they need to fight these evil spirits. They also believed that if they wore costumes, these evil spirits will not recognise them & not send anything evil their way. These people were also fire worshippers & so they would carve evil faces in fruits & keep them outside to scare away the evil spirits. They would also light a candle / fire in these fruits as they were fire worshippers, thinking that the fire would protect them. This is where the idea of the jack-o’-lantern comes from.
Halloween was also considered the most favourable time for divinations concerning marriage, health, luck & death. It was the only day on which the devil was invoked for such purposes.
Celtic priests would also summon the evil spirits by making animal sacrifices over bonfires to gain information from such spirits about the future and news regarding their crops.
In short, the festival of Haloween is a festival in which others apart from Allah were worshipped. They would worship the devil & sacrifice in his name. They would commit evil acts to please the devil. This is still practiced today by those who perform black magic & perform different rituals in the name of Shaitaan.
Over time, Halloween activities evolved into what we know today. But it took a long time to get there.
Halloween is a religious festival rooting from paganism & shirk. It’s origins and traditions are against Tawheed (monotheism) and principles of Islam. Tawheed (monotheism) is the essence of our faith and the very core of Islam. This simple belief is what makes us enter the fold of Islam, without it there is no Islam. Once a person will understand this important principle of tawheed, it will become easy for one to comprehend the reasons as to why Islam is averse to many of the customs, traditions and celebrations of the non- Muslims.
Allah (s) has said in the Quraan that He forgives all sins, except shirk (associating partners with Him).
“Surely Allah does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him, and forgives what is besides that to whomsoever He pleases; and whoever associates anything with Allah, he devises indeed a great sin.” (Quran 4: 48)
We being Muslims, who worship & believe in one God, surely should not be imitating those who worshipped gods other than Allah. How can we imitate those who worshipped the devil?
As Muslims, our celebrations should be ones that honor and uphold our faith and beliefs.
The prophet ﷺ has said: “Whoever imitates a person is one of them” [Abu Dawood]
This hadith is in relation to religious imitation, that they will be with them in the hereafter, in the fire of jahannam.
So we may think what’s the harm when it comes to children? It’s just innocent fun. From an early age, it can be observed how much imitating has an effect on children. Imitating others and being like them in outward appearance and behaviour leads to imitating them and being like them in one’s heart and mind, by way of gradual, hidden influence. This is one of the plots of Shaitaan, he makes it seem like there’s no harm. Due to this Islam has prohibited the imitation of others.
We being Muslims, who worship & believe in one God, surely should not be imitating those who worshipped gods other than Allah. How can we imitate those who worshipped the devil? As Muslims, our celebrations should be ones that honor and uphold our faith and beliefs.
The Prophet ﷺ has said: “Whoever imitates a person is one of them” [Abu Dawood]
This hadith is in relation to religious imitation, that they will be with them in the hereafter, in the fire of jahannam.
So we may think what’s the harm when it comes to children? It’s just innocent fun. From an early age, it can be observed how much imitating has an effect on children. Imitating others and being like them in outward appearance and behaviour leads to imitating them and being like them in one’s heart and mind, by way of gradual, hidden influence. This is one of the plots of Shaitaan, he makes it seem like there’s no harm. Due to this Islam has prohibited the imitation of others.
We have to remember that Allah (S) will never command us to do anything, but that which is wise, in our best interests, and will lead to our happiness in this world and the hereafter. Shaitaan may trick us into thinking that at the end of the day it’s my intention that counts. What good intention can be made in celebrating Halloween? One cannot justify a wrong deed by a ‘good intention‘. If that was the case, then every sin would have a justification. Sins would not exist.
For instance if someone breaks into a house to steal with the intention of giving it away as charity, he has still committed a sin. His good intentions would not earn him any reward nor would his sin be pardoned.
A sin is sin. Good intentions are only good if we follow them through with righteous actions in obedience to Allah.
“So, the worldly life must not deceive you, nor you should ever be deceived about Allah by the Deceiver (Shaitaan)”. [Surah 31 – Luqman – Ayah 33]
While it may be tempting to join in such celebrations, we must remind ourselves of the pagan history and origins of these celebrations. Educate our children & explain to them the harms of such festivals which may seem like innocent fun. Teach them to be proud of who they are & that it’s ok to be different. Islam is a complete way of life. Its wisdom is profound. What Islam prescribes and what it prohibits is always of tremendous benefit for humanity as a whole. Always make dua to Allah to grant us the strength to refrain from such activities. May Allah protect us & keep us away from anything that displeases Him.
Summary
•Halloween has its Origins from paganism & shirk. This is against our core belief in tawheed – the oneness of Allah.
• Not only is it a festival where others apart from Allah were worshipped, it was a festival where our greatest enemey, the devil shaitaan was worshipped.
• Islam prohibits the imitation of the non-Muslims due to its gradual, dangerous effects on one’s faith. The effects of imitation on children is even worse as explained by psychologists.
• Good intentions are only good if we follow them through with righteous actions in obedience to Allah. We cannot justify a wrong action by a good intention.
• We don’t see the non Muslims imitating us. They are proud of their beliefs. We should be proud of who we are & remain true to our beliefs through our actions.
• Understand & believe that there is wisdom & nothing but goodness behind every command & prohibition of Allah, even though our mind may not be able to comprehend it
FAQs
Can we give sweets to people who come to trick and treat at our house?
One should abstain from participating or encouraging any activities associated to halloween.
If one intends to show good character to neighbours etc, there are plenty of other days in the year other than the days of festival of the non Muslims, to gift them etc.
Can we go to scarefest?
The scarefest takes place during October, around Halloween & is associated to Halloween. Hence again, it is not permissible for a believer to take part in such activities. Moreover these places also consist of other haraam elements.
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